By Ashley Zimmermann, Creative Content Director for @designREMODEL

A spacious home: we all want it, but it does come at a cost. Geographical area is limited on every scale. Think about this in terms of overcrowding in global countries, in finding an apartment in a high-demand city like NYC, or in creating a comfortable living situation for your family in a house or apartment. When faced with a small space problem, the solution often requires creativity. Thankfully, we can draw upon the expertise of many talented designers who have had great success putting their tips and tricks to the test in homes, apartments, and small residences. Creating optical illusions and making thoughtful, logistical choices will need to become tools in your tool belt. This article will focus primarily on optical illusions using paint, but we will then sprinkle in some other tricks to make extra space out of thin air. Let’s get to work!

Paint, the Magic Maker

Delineations 

Let’s start by taking a peek inside the brain of Marianne Evennou, a Parisian interior designer. Remodelista tells us how paint helped Marianne become a master illusionist when designing an apartment (called a pied-à-terre, or a small apartment, house, or room kept for occasional use.) for a Spanish couple who makes frequent visits to Paris for work. Marianne uses different paint shades to define borders. She tells Remodelista, “I treat the colors like imaginary borders, so each space feels like a specific world … That’s how I push back the walls in a small space and prevent it from feeling like a narrow box.” You could take a page from her book and paint the kitchen one shade, the dining room another, and a hallway or walkway yet another color. Marianne used complementary paint shades from a similar palette when designing Chelo and Xavier’s apartment, so keep that in mind. A complimentary palette showcases “depth and nuance”; contrastingly, using a palette of vivid rainbow shades likely will not advance the objective of visually expanding your space.

Go Dark or Go White

I admit I was skeptical when I first learned about the “going dark” trick. We’ve often heard that dark colors make spaces feel smaller, but that is a bit of a misconception. The Spruce says dark paint colors can remove shadows and lines, which help to make the walls “fall away.” Dark paint “has the ability to erase all the shadow lines in the space such as corners, ceiling lines, as well as where your walls meet the baseboard or the floor.”

Though it is being discussed in home remodeling and designing spheres that the all-white trend is on its way out (a topic for another time), there is something clean and timeless about white. 

White creates the illusion of space by mimicking and enhancing natural light. Sharon Zimmermann, who remodeled and designed my parents’ 1914 farmhouse, suggests the following techniques.

“Start with an all-white room and choose one wall as an accent wall. Highlight it with a different color. Display your books or choice decorations on the accent wall. Keep the other three walls minimalistic. For example, you could choose a light purple or periwinkle wall and the rest of the room could coordinate with the purple. The eye would draw the purple out of the decor and would prevent the room from seeming washed out. Carry the accent color throughout without being overwhelming and it will stand out against the white and will give the white life. For our example, hang a print with purple tones in it on the opposite wall.” 

Enjoy the benefits of white by using furniture and accessories for color, rather than the walls.

Other Tricks of the Trade

1. Scale your furniture

Think about it like this- if you are working with a small apartment or home, why would you want to clutter up the little space you have with too big furnishings? The Spruce suggests asking for a ‘tear-sheet’ at the furniture store so you can have all the dimensions on paper. You can then tape out the dimensions of the furniture piece on your floor to get a feel for how the piece will feel in the room. Test it out and be honest with yourself: is it too big? If yes, don’t despair; beautiful pieces of furniture abound. Ask for a consultation at the furniture store and describe your dilemma.

2. Leave behind heavy fabrics

Remodelista says, “Ditch the drapes.” I say opt to skip heavy fabrics like velvet and brocade. Keep your fabrics and upholstery light and airy, even coastal-themed. Think light linen or muslin curtains or skip the curtains and opt for nature-inspired wooden shutters; this will create the illusion of space by letting more light in and mentally take you somewhere in the open, like the beach. 

3. Minimalism 

Yes, we’re being told that the minimalism design trend is on its way out. However, physically and psychologically, keeping items to a minimum in a small living area is still practical. I like intriguing and beautiful things as much as anyone, so this pains me slightly. Still, the reality is that collections of items add to visual clutter (which often translates to mental clutter and distraction). Though Marianne reminds us that you can have your cake and eat it, too, it just takes some strategy. She instructs us to “[choose] only useful and at the same time beautiful stuff” to put on display. Here are a few other ideas:

a. Keep books to a minimum.

b. Toss or donate knick-knacky things (one person’s trash is another’s treasure).

c. Keep everything highly organized with shelving.

4. Vertical lines

It is well-known that vertical stripes elongate. As with clothing, vertical lines make a wearer appear taller and thinner, while horizontal stripes stunt the figure and make the wearer look shorter and broader. This is another optical illusion that emphasizes and elongates the height of walls. Look for subdued ways to add vertical lines, such as adding in a tall, skinny floor lamp.

5. Mirrors and reflective surfaces

My inner magpie loves shiny, pretty things now as I was younger (be honest, I’m sure I’m not the only one). The advantage is that this fascination can now be put to practical use. Upon moving into our ‘new’ Craftsman home, we immediately hung a huge, ornate, antique gold-rimmed mirror, and it effectively doubled the area of our entryway and living room. Add a few reflective items around your home or apartment if this technique suits your tastes. In addition to mirrors (or instead of), you could integrate furnishings like a chandelier, glass table, or something unexpected like the brass range hoods Alison Victoria had custom-made for the Lincoln Park Fourplex remodel in season 1 of Windy City Rehab.

6. Skip the ornate patterns

Complex patterns and wallpaper add to the visual clutter we discussed earlier. Instead, use Marianne's and Sharon's methods to keep large areas looking clean yet attractive.

7. Creative storage

When square footage is at a premium, it is necessary to get creative with storage. For example, if you have a loft, absolutely make sure to utilize the area underneath. For example, use the space beneath for your kitchen and dining setup in an apartment with a built-in loft. House Beautiful suggests maximizing a second bedroom by taking inspiration from your old college dorm and installing a grown-up lofted bed with an office workspace or mini library setup underneath. Don’t forget about the real estate under your staircase. (Harry Potter’s cupboard under the stairs, anyone?) Take a look at the petite desk perfectly positioned in the ‘under-stair’ space in the image below.

Use built-ins whenever you can. Utilize a kitchen island as a triple-purpose kitchen prep area, dining bar, and storage cache.

We’ll leave the global solutions discussion for another day, though briefly reflecting on the topic does remind me how lucky many of us are to have a space to call our own, no matter the size. 

What tricks or optical illusions have you used to create space in your house or apartment? Have you used any of the ones mentioned here? What other creative solutions do you have in your repertoire?

References:

https://www.remodelista.com/posts/12-small-space-design-ideas-for-a-tiny-apartment-marianne-evennou/ - 269 Square Feet in Paris: Design Ideas from a Shoebox Apartment Reinvented By Marianne Evennou

https://www.remodelista.com/posts/how-to-make-a-room-look-bigger-11-expert-tips/ - Expert Advice: 11 Tips for Making a Room Look Bigger

https://www.thespruce.com/make-a-small-room-look-bigger-1976069 - 11 Easy Ways to Make a Small Room Look Bigger

https://www.housebeautiful.com/shopping/furniture/g32872115/best-loft-beds-for-adults/ - 15 Stylish Loft Beds Adults and Kids Alike Will Love

Google search - “pied-à-terre”

https://atdesignremodel.com/blog/all-about-arts-and-crafts-homes - All About Arts & Crafts Homes

https://atdesignremodel.com/blog/more-2022-colors-pantone-very-peri-and-the-legacy-of-2010s-and-2020s-it-colors - More 2022 Colors: Pantone Very Peri and the Legacy of 2010s and 2020s ‘It’ Colors

https://www.hgtv.com/shows/windy-city-rehab/the-lincoln-park-fourplex-pictures - Windy City Rehab: The Lincoln Park Fourplex

http://www.marianne-evennou.com/en/projects/at-xavier-and-chelos/ - Xavier and Chelo’s home — 25 m2 Paris 6e, 2019

Phone interview with Sharon Zimmermann- May 2022